of Castile, in 1377. A sentence in Latin

worth remembering down the ages

surrounds the door arch:

“We pray for Our Lord to visit this enclosure and banish all our enemies’ evils”.

The great cornice and the Lord Father

relief are by the Portuguese architect

Sebastián Vidal from 1650. Scholars refer

to it as the facade and portico ensemble

attached to the tower. Somehow, the

image from the Gate of Pardon in

Seville must have infl uenced his project.

The inside contains a baroque dome,

made in 1740 on the initiative of Bishop

Pedro de Salazar y Góngora. The four

Evangelists appear on the pendentives.

Manuel Nieto Cumplido

R. ARREDONDO-E. BUXOPuerta del Perdón (Gate of Pardon), 1879J. & R. Amador de los Ríos, Monument

Access:Bell tower

Stop 1:Baroque cupola

Stop 2:First set of bells

Stop 3:Upper level terrace

OPENING HOURSNovember - February:Mondays to Saturdays: 9:30 am - 10:00 am - 10:30 am - 11:00 am - 11:30 am - 12:00 am - 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm Sundays and holydays of obligation:9:30 am - 10:00 am - 10:30 am - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm- 1:30 pm4:00 pm - 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm

March - October:Mondays to Saturdays: 9:30 am - 10:00 am - 10:30 am - 11:00 am - 11:30 am - 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm1:00 pm - 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Sundays and holydays of obligation:9:30 am - 10:00 am - 10:30 am - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm - 6:30 pm

These times may change according to the needs of the Cathedral.

TOWER ENTRANCE Access from the North Gallery of the portico(next to Puerta del Perdón)

CO

RD

OB

A C

ATH

ED

RA

LB

ELL

TO

WE

RE

NG

LISH

GU

IDE

D.L

. CO

-103

-201

5

THE MINARET

Originally, our current bell tower was

preceded by the minaret erected in the

times of Cordoba’s first caliph, Abd al-

Rahmán III, around 951 A.D. According

to al-Maqqari, a chronicler and scribe,

“one could use two staircases to climb

the tower, separated by masonry in such

a way that two people going up at the

same time would only meet at the top.

It had 107 steps”. It was an “impressive

piece of work, full of unique artwork and

impressive proportions,” according to

the exceptional description by al-Idrisi

(1154 A.D.). This minaret’s overall shape

was conceived as two bodies with square

bases of different width and height, one

on top of the other. The lower block was

crowned by a row of horseshoe arches

resting on columns. The upper block

consisted of a room for muezzins, open on

all four sides. On top of this block there was a dome, topped

by an iron spike, the ‘amud’, skewering five apples or balls.

During your tour, you will be able to recognise parts of the

original building on its eastern side, which are the work of

the architect Félix Hernández, and you may even be able to

get to the top and step on some of its original, eroded steps.

THE CHRISTIAN TOWER

Over a landscape of palm trees, cypresses, olive trees,

jacaranda and orange trees, reminiscent of Alexandrian

times, one can gaze at the belfry that was built following a

capitulary agreement. Work began in 1593 in keeping with

the Palladian style sketches by the grand master Hernán

Ruiz III in collaboration with Asensio de Maeda, grand

master of Seville. Shortly before this, the octagonal spire of

the tower, which housed the clock bell, had been severely

damaged. On this occasion, a part of the old minaret was

demolished and the body for the bells was built. The work

was taken over by the master Juan Sequero de Matilla in

1616, creating the second block, “finely forged in brick”, that

was to contain the clock bell. All of the weight bearing down

on the old minaret brought about its imminent ruin, which

was repaired by Gaspar de la Peña, His Majesty’s grand

master, who lived in Madrid. What was left of the minaret

was sheathed in stone at the same time as the 10th century

stairs were reconstructed with stone. This piece of work was

crowned by a gigantic golden sculpture of Saint Raphael,

the custodian of the city, by Pedro de Paz and Bernabé

Gómez del Río in 1664. By then, the tower stood at 54 m

tall. The 1755 earthquake in Lisbon wreaked havoc on the

building. For centuries, its bells had lent order to life and

work in the city, as well as to the prayers of the devoted.

THE GATE OF PARDON (PUERTA DEL PERDÓN)

As it had been for the mosque, this door was always been

considered to be the main entrance for the cathedral, and

it emulates the atrium door of Roman basilicas. It is used by

bishops when they take over the diocese, as well as being

the entrance for monarchs and the city’s authorities.

The facade has been influenced by tastes from different

periods. The Mudejar piece that frames the door and displays

14th century inscriptions is from the reign of Henry II

A RELIEF ON THE SANTA CATALINA (ST. CATHERINE) DOOR SHOWING THE ORIGINAL MINARET (1565)

ABD AL-RAHMAN III’S MINARET (951-952) BELL TOWER

GASPAR DE LA PEÑA (1654-1660)Lower body reinforcement and

Renaissance resurfacing

HERNÁN RUIZ III (1593-1606)

SEBASTIÁN VIDAL (1650)General reinforcement

JUAN SEQUERO DE LA MATILLA (1616-1617)

GASPAR DE LA PEÑA (1664)